Sunday, August 28, 2011

Pinterest

Have you heard of Pinterest, another new social networking sight gaining popularity? If not, check it out. It's pretty cool!

Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board networking site that lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. It's nice if you want to design a room, plan your wedding, organize recipes or pick places you want to visit. Further, you can check out other people's 'boards.' This is a great way to see what other people enjoy and find those with similar interests.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Executive Vacation During Turmoil? Bad PR Move?

This week as President Obama parks the tour bus and travels to Martha's Vineyard for a break with his family, he is undergoing some criticism. Some question whether the chief executive should be taking a break at all, amid stock market volatility, a "crisis" economy, and dropping poll numbers.

Cheif among the president's critics, of course, are the declared GOP candidates for his job. Newt Gingrich blasted Mr. Obama for taking vacation, as Gingrich himself headed off to Hawaii for a "fundraising" trip. A more credible objection was voiced by the Washing Post columnist Colbert King, who says that the president already enjoys two taxpayer-subsidized residences and should devote his time off to talking with hard=pressed citizens, not rubbing elbows with the elite on Martha's Vineyard.

This "controversy" is probably more about PR than reality. After all, the man's completely accessible, and Congress doesn't get anything done even when it is in session - honestly. Plus, he does have 'vacation' time away from his job. But, it raising an interesting question, should chief executive take time off during rough times? If a company is being downgraded, your customers are losing confidence and your recovery prospects are uncertain do you take a trip or cancel it? Probably not.

Leadership is often conveyed through images. A CEO in crisis shouldn't be photographed in luxury surroundings, but neither should be be seen as desk-bound, beleaguered, or overwhelmed. A strong leader needs to be seen as engaged, committed, but also independent. This says, Rosabeth Kanter in her book Should Leader Vacation?

I think Obama should be able to take a vacation and enjoy time with his family. He is working hard no doubt and he is due for time off. Also, like previously said he is accessible at all times. He never truly tunes out. However, from a PR standpoint, this doesn't look the best and I would advise him to think of a way to do a working vacation in not such a 'wealthy' spot.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

State Fair Tragedy and How Gearing Up for the MN State Fair has Changed

Since the Indian's State Fair tragedy over the weekend, the Minnesota State Fair has been triple checking their stage and building structures and safety protocol and plans.

In Indiana, inspectors work to determine what went wrong when the wind gust toppled the stage, there will be more eyes on the stage that will be constructed in Minnesota later this week.

The Minnesota Grandstand stage that will be built by an outside contractor named Premier Global, has a form that looks a lot like the stage in Indiana. The Minnesota State Fair says it's a portable stage and that they don't have any permanent stages. After what happened in IN, the Minnesota fair is going to have people on site with the stage throughout the fair.

Also, the Minnesota State Fair upping their severe weather safety protocol. They are identifying on the map the five best building for taking shelter and how they will report the news to fair goers.

The event in Indiana was terrible. I think their management and PR team handled it as best they could. It's hard to know what to do, but I think their statement was well thought out and it was really nice they held a ceremony before reopening the fair on Monday. They have received some criticism for not just closing the fair all together. To that I say, how can you? It's only once a year and so much money is put into it from all directions - from vendors, farmers, and sponsors. The show must really go on as sad as it is to say.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Foursquare

Ok, so I know I'm about two years behind on this, but I just started using my Foursquare account. I knew about the social media site when it first launched, I just didn't understand the benefits of it and why people would be interested in knowing if I'm at McDonalds, Target, or a party for that matter. However, for whatever reason I'm starting to see the benefits of this outlet and am using it often. Maybe another reason I started using it is because I got a new phone that allows me to have Internet... hmm... regardless - I'm starting to have fun with it!

What is Foursquare? For those of you this is new to still, Foursqure is a location-based social networking website based on hardware for mobile device. The service is available to users with GPS-enabled mobile device such as smartphones. Users "check-in" at venues using a mobile website, test messaging or a device-specific application by running the app and selecting from a list of venues the app locates nearby. Each check-in awards the user points and sometimes, "badges."

So, why should you care. This is the struggle I had before. This is what I've learned about using Foursquare beyond just sharing your errands or lunch dates:

Update the fun locations or events you're at that you want to see if others are there too. Foursquare lets you check-in to certain events, or if it's not created yet, lets you create an event once you're there, not just buildings and allows you to see if others are there too. An example I have, is that this past Friday I went to the Edina Art Fair. Someone created an event and I was able to check-in and see others there too. Use this tool for events you host that you want to start a conversation around.

Once checked-in to a certain spot, read the tips. People who have checked-in somewhere post tips that you may not know about. You may learn something new about your favorite spot.

Just recently, Foursquare allowed places to add deals. If you open the program in a certain location you can check out deals in your area and receive coupons. This is a really cool thing that only Foursquare users benefit from!

Foursquare is a very cool tool. But, my advice is just to not get too crazy about it and share your locations with the whole world, especially those you don't know well. This can become an unsafe program that can could allow creepy people to stalk you. Update with precaution.